The Outbounder
by Prosp88
Summary: Follow the story of a Pre-Clone Wars era Jedi Knight as he finds himself lost in a completely different galaxy, and on a world far different from any he has encountered before. the cross over canons is mostly Disney SW canon with some Legends material mixed in along with Disney animated Marvel universe
1. A Long Time Ago...

A Long Time Ago ... in a galaxy far, far away.

**STAR WARS **

**EPISODE 1.5**

**THE OUTBOUNDER**

27 years before the Battle of Yavin, it is a period of peace in the galaxy. Watched over by the **JEDI KNIGHTS**, the Galactic Republic ensures freedom throughout the known galaxy. During this era, an enterprising expeditionary project has been put into motion by the Jedi High Council ... **OUTBOUND FLIGHT**.

Led mainly by Jedi Master **JORUS C'BAOTH**, along with six Jedi Masters, twelve Jedi Knights, and 50,000 men, women, and children, Outbound Flight intends to travel beyond the borders of the Galactic Republic into the Unknown Regions where they hoped to pierce the edge of the galaxy and seek out extragalactic life.

However, after a violent encounter with the **VAGAARI** and the Chiss Expeditionary Defence Fleet, lead by Commander **THAWN**, Master C'baoth has fallen to the dark side and is endangering the lives of the crew and colonists on board. **JAVIF MARR**, one of the serving Jedi Knights of the expedition, is facing off against the fallen Jedi Master in an attempt to save the lives of the Outbound Flight...


	2. A Fallen Master

**_Chapter 1: A Fallen Master_**

Dazed, exhausted and aching in pain; Javif summoned every last bit of strength he had left in his body to pull himself up from the floor of the destroyed bridge complex on D1. The ringing of the emergency alarms deafen him as he raised his hand over his face and felt the broken remains of his visor, which must have taken damage during the previous attack. Ripping the thin piece of hardware from his eyes, the young Jedi threw it to one side. He didn't need them however, as a Miraluka, Javif did not see the galaxy around him like the other sentient beings.

For generations, this near-humanoid species had evolved to the point that they no longer relied on their eyes to "see". In fact Javif, like other Miraluka in the modern age was born without eyes and due to his species natural affinity to the force, they instead see though it using a technique commonly known as force sight.

Right now however, Javif is struggling to regain his "vision". He could only just make out the basic shapes and silhouettes of his surroundings . The only exception to this is the only remaining occupant of the bridge. Whenever a Miraluka finds themselves in the presence of other force sensitives, due to the sheer strength of the force within them, a Miraluka can see the force radiating off from the individual and could even determine their alignment in the light or dark side.

Javif regained his composure and stared at the silhouette of the man standing several feet away from him ... and this ones alignment has changed drastically in such a short time over the recent events. Once a solid blue aura radiated around this man, but over time this aura seemed to flicker over the course of the Outbound Flights journey. Now? This mans aura radiates a faint red. Only those who falling or have fallen to the Dark side have ever given off an aura such as this.

"Stay down, boy" C'baoth growled as he raised his hand towards Javif "You may not survive the next attack."

Javif ignored the Jedi Masters clear threat and brought himself to his feet in defiance.

"Master C'baoth" Javif exasperated, "Can't you see what you are doing? The longer this battle stretches out, the closer this dreadnaught is to destruction." The young Knight pleaded with his superior, "End this now."

"This will only end when all my enemies are crushed!" the Jedi Master shouted back, his voice filled with a venomous sting that Javif had never thought he would have heard from the legendary Master. "No one will stand in the way of my destiny".

"Even at the cost of your fellow Jedi?" uttered Javif, "My master is now one with the force because of your blind ambition!"

Suddenly there was a hiss from the nearby comms station, the channel that was used previously to communicate with the alien starships attacking the Outbound Flight was still active and a message came through in the form of a familiar voice.

"Jedi Master C'baoth ... leaders of Outbound Flight."

"Mitth'raw'nuruodo." the name hissed out through the Jedi Masters gritted teeth as the Chiss Commander continued.

"Your vessel has been disarmed, it's ability to defend itself destroyed. I offer you this one final chance to surrender and return to the Republic."

"Surrender!?" Master C'baoth spat out, "The arrogance!"

Javif took this as his chance to coax C'baoth into doing the right thing, maybe this could be the very moment that either saves or condemns the Outbound Flight. There was no other way.

"Master" urged Javif, "This is your chance ... End this before its too late."

"Outbound Flight, I await your decision."

The Jedi Master scowled as he as he hurried over to the comm station to send his reply.

At first Master C'baoth only managed to ground out a simple "So..." Before spitting out "You think you've won alien?!"

The communications display came alive and C'baoth was now once again face to face with the Commander attacking his beloved Outbound Flight; the blue skinned, red eyed Chiss, sitting in his command chair. His sharp, black uniform baring the insignia of the CEDF radiated a calm authority that matched the calculating precision of the way he addressed Master C'baoth.

"I have indeed won, I have only to give a single order." His hand shifted slightly on his control board, his finger tips coming to rest on a covered switch edged in red. "And you and all your people will die, is your pride worth so much to you?"

"A Jedi does not yielded to pride" C'baoth spat, "Nor does he yield to empty threats, he follows only the dictates of his own destiny."

"Then choose your destiny" Thawn said, "I'm told that the role of the Jedi is to serve and defend."

"You were told wrongly!" C'baoth countered aggressively, "the role of the Jedi is to lead and guide and to destroy all threats."

The unburnt corner of the Jedi Masters lip curled upwards into a bitter, sadistic smile. And without warning, Thawns body jerked back, his whole body pressing back against his seat. His hand darted up to his throat, clutching uselessly at it. The Invisible power that was now choking the life out of him wasn't something physical that the Commander could fight against, C'baoth was using the force and there was nothing that Thawn could do to stop him and Master C'baoth ... had fully fallen to the Dark side.

"MASTER C'BAOTH! NOOOOO!"

Javif couldn't let this happen, he reached out with the force and summoned his lightsaber to his hand before igniting it and charged at the occupied C'baoth. Unfortunately the fallen master was ready for him and ignited his own lightsaber with his free hand. Soon Javifs orange lightsaber locked with C'baoths green lightsaber as the two Jedi have finally come to blows.

"Foolish boy!" C'baoth growled at Javif "You think your feeble skills are a match for a master of my calibre?!"

"I cannot let you do this!" Javif pleaded.

"You cannot stop me." The Jedi Master seethed under his breath.

The master broke the blade lock and swung his lightsaber at Javif, who managed to block the attack with is own blade with ease before countering with an attack of his own, in response to his Juyo training. The two Jedi continued to exchange blows, however it didn't take long for Javif to realise that C'baoth was clearly the superior duelist. He had several years of training and experience behind him, and the fallen masters sheer strength in the force was far beyond that of the young Jedi.

The Chiss commander was barely hanging onto his life, the last gasps of air in his lungs on the verge of dissipating as he only had minutes left. Javif knew he had to do something, but he knew he couldn't overpower the Jedi Master. Though Javifs skill with a lightsaber was impressive, he wasn't that experienced in Makashi, having only a few lessons in the style since lightsaber on lightsaber combat was rare in this day and age. A training choice that Javif clearly coming to regret. Once again, Javif found is blade locked with C'baoth own and the fallen master started laughing maniacally at him.

"Face it boy" C'baoth mocked as he held back Javifs attack, "you are nothing compared too... AARRRHHH!"

It seems that the Jedi Masters lightsaber skills aren't as proficient as they used to be. There was a minor weakness in his guard exposed that Javif realised he could exploit. He released the pressure off from C'baoths blade and guided his own swiftly diagonally downwards so that the tip of his orange blade just grazed the upper forearm of the fallen Master, causing him to drop his lightsaber and break his concentration to the force which released Thawn from his grasp. Moments later the Commander killed the communication display, leaving the two Jedi to continue their battle with no distraction.

"You will regret that!" C'baoth hissed at Javif as he nursed his wound.

"Its over Master C'baoth." Javif said as he keeps his guard up towards his opponent.

"No ... No ... No." The fallen Master glared at the young Miraluka. "You have yet to see a true demonstration of my command of the Force.

Suddenly, the bridge started to vibrate violently before display monitors are ripped off from the walls and fired like projectiles right towards Javif. At first he used his lightsaber to defect the projectiles, slicing them to pieces, however C'baoth wasn't finished yet. More sections of the wall were ripped down, causing debris to rain down from above. Javif reacted in time to use his own powers to stop the debris from crushing him. Though his abilities were almost exhausted from the Mind meld that he had taken part in during the battle earlier on, Javif conjured up what remains of his strength to push away the debris, scattering it across the bridge before dropping to his knees.

"Your powers are weak, boy." The fallen Master cackled loudly "A pity, such potential, you could have proven very useful to my new order. But alas, your defiance must be brought to an end young Marr!"

Master C'baoth raised up his uninjured arm as energy began crackling from his hand. Javif drew the force into himself, gathering up what power he had left. As C'baoth unleashed an explosive charge of Force lightning straight towards Javif, but the Miraluka used the force to summon to his had C'baoth own lightsaber while at the same time igniting his own. He then crossed them in front of him and used both lightsabers to absorb the powerful energy to protect himself.

Unfortunately Javifs power in the force is dwarfed significantly by Master C'baoth, not even the twin lightsabers could absorb all the Force lightning as excess energy began sparking off. Scorching the surface surrounding Javif as he desperately pulls himself off the ground and slowly takes a few steps closer to the fallen Master.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" C'baoth cried out.

It took everything Javif had to stand his ground, but before he could take another step closer, he felt a sudden wave flow over him ... a tremor in the force. It was the alien that he intervened to save, he was retaliating, and both he and C'baoth were in great danger. However the fallen Jedi Master was too lost in the depths of the dark side and focused on ending Javifs life that he did not sense... or did not care about the impending danger.

"MASTER!" Javif desperately pleaded, "PLEASE, WE MUST..."

But all C'baoth did was laugh hysterically at the young Jedi, he was beyond the realm of reason and the danger was quickly approaching. Thinking fast, Javif dropped the guard on C'baoths green lightsaber and with force lightning still surging through the blade, he used the force to throw the lightsaber right past C'baoth head to strike a navigation station located behind the Jedi Masters. As the lightsaber made contact, the raw power within the blade caused an explosion that knocked both Jedi to the ground.

The entire bridge of D1 was now in engulfed in flames and destroyed debris littered the surrounding area. However Javif managed to crawl his way out from some debris and made his hurried over to the bridges exit. Just as he punched the control to open the doors he could hear what sounded lime grounding noises from under some metal debris nearby. He used the force to push some beams aside to find Master C'baoth, still alive but pinned to the ground.

"My ... plan" the Jedi master weakly whispered out, "It can't ... not like this."

He couldn't stay, though he would normally try and save him, there was no more time. Going against every Jedi instinct he had, Javif turned his back to C'baoth and closed the blast doors of the bridge behind him as he left.

* * *

Javif hurried his way down the empty hallway of D1, most of its crew were either killed in the previous battle with the Vagaari. The rest of the colonists were thankfully safe in the Outbound Flights central core for their protection, he had to get down there, he had to find Lorana. Suddenly the hull of the dreadnaught shook violently, nearly knocking Javif off his feet; Thawns retaliation had started.

* * *

The commander of the CEDF used a squadron of sophisticated droid snub fighters in the previous battle. But after surviving the crazed C'baoths attempt on his life, he activated a secondary command layer pre-set programmed into the droids. As soon as they reached the Outbound Flight, the snub fighters started a series of raids against the dreadnaught. Several fighters rammed into key structural points in the ships hull, which severely damaged the interior doors of the ship that were essential in an emergency. Particularly in the event of a hull breach, which was exactly what the commander intended.

* * *

The remaining Droid fighters opened fire upon the ship, blasting open sections of the hull and without the emergency doors, alarm sirens started going off in the section that Javif found himself as it started to decompress. The Jedi tapped into the power of Force to sprint at an accelerated rate towards the nearest turbo lift. But the decompression managed to catch up with him just as Javif was mere feet away from an open lift. His sprinting started to slow down rapidly as his movement became more restricted, anyone else would have succumb in an instant and would have been pulled onto the void of space, but Javif was a Jedi, with the force on his side.

The young Jedi drew more upon the force to continue pushing himself closer to the turbo lift, he used his arms to crawl and pull himself along the wall until he finally entered the lift and sealed the door behind him. Javif collapsed onto the floor of the lift and had barely took a few deep breaths before he felt another tremor in the force. He felt the spark of life that flickered within C'baoth was suddenly went out. That last attack, something was different ... Joaus C'baoth; Jedi Master, visionary of the Outbound Flight ... was now dead.

In a final attack run upon the Outbound Flight, the droid fighters had unleashed a devastating new weapon; a Radiation Bomb. When it detonated inside the hull of the dreadnaught, it sent out a deadly, unstoppable wave of radiation throughout the interior of the ship.

Reacting quickly, Javif slams his fist against the control console, activating the turbo lift and setting off to any random section of the ship to escape from the impending danger. Unfortunately it didn't take long for him to realise that it was too late and the danger was spreading quickly throughout the entire ship. Through the force, Javif could sense the many of the remaining crew and colonists fear and anguish as their lives were abruptly ended.

Javif needed to stay strong if he was going to survive this. As the turbo lift was reaching its destination, Javif could sense that the dangerous radiation was still lurking. He knew the dreadnaughts decontamination procedure would automatically come into effect soon, so he needed to wait long enough for that to happen. The young Knight dropped into meditative position and focused on using the force to shield the turbo lift from the radiation.

The turbo lift came to a sudden halt, and Javif quickly used the force to manipulate the controls to keep the doors closed. Over a period of excruciating minutes, Javif struggled to maintain his protection. Though he had practiced this protection technique before, he never encounter this high level of radiation. Slowly growing weaker by the moment, Javif delve deeper into the force to prolong his efforts for as long as possible. Suddenly he could sense the radiation growing fainter, the automated systems were starting to kick in. Before long he could feel the radiation reaching a safer level and released his grip on the force and nearly collapsed of exhaustion.

After several deep breaths, the doors of the turbo lift automatically opened and the sight he saw before him will stay with him until the end of his days.

"Bye the Force!" Javif exaspsed in horror.

* * *

A/N: So there we go, first chapter done. Please Comment and Review, it really helps to hear your opinions, thoughts and recommendations and I love reading them. Also, I haven't abandoned my other work, this is just an idea that's been floating around my head for a while now.

Thanks again


	3. Through the Ashes

**Chapter 2: Trough the Ashes**

The turbo lift shaft was reasonably clear, the car had managed to reached D3, but was now inoperable due to a malfunction, probably caused by the recent attack. The dreadnaught itself didn't seem so badly damage either, except of course ... for all the bodies. Javif cautiously emerged from the turbo lift, although the automatic decontamination had managed to bring the radiation down to safe levels, the young Jedi Knight used the force to shield himself from any left over resonance.

Never before had Javif seen a sight so disturbing, several bodies litter the area on the other side of the turbo lift. He could identify several officers and ship technicians of D3 while the nearby medical droids had already begun clearing them away. Probably taking them towards one of the medical labs, where, according to the droids outdated programming, living beings will be waiting to give orders on how to proceed. Only, there wouldn't be.

Javif continued to navigate his way further into the dreadnaught, finding more bodies grouped together along the long hallways. It didn't take long for the Jedi to realise that he had wandered into a familiar area. On this deck, mere hours ago, Javif and several other Jedi had mind melded with the force in a meditation technique that would defend the Outbound Flight from the Vagaari forces hyper efficiently, mainly by sending them into a state of mass confusion. Unfortunately during a surprise manoeuvre by the Chiss Commander; Javif, along with his fellow Jedi, felt the indescribable amount of agony, pain and death of the Vagaari as they were annihilated by the Chiss attack.

This forced the Jedi to break their connection with the meld and allowed an opportunity for small divisions of the Vagaari fleet to attack the Republic dreadnaught. Turbo laser fire had bombarded this very section of the ship, causing the collapse of durasteel bulkheads and other debris to rain down around the area. Javif remembers coming to after the meld, only to find that most of the other Jedi to be killed in the resulting attack. The Milaluka Jedi could see the remains of his fellow Jedi scattered around the deck. Until he came across a section of fallen debris and pinned underneath it, still to Javifs horror was Jedi Master Justyn Ma'Ning ... Javifs own master and friend.

"I should have tried ... stop ... him sooner" Javif painfully remembers the murmur of Ma'Ning voice as he rapidly grew weaker. "But he was ... Jedi Master ... Jedi Master".

"Don't talk, let me help you", Javif pleaded as he tried to use the force to remove the surrounding debris trapping his master.

"No!" Ma'Ning said, "too late ... for me"

"But I can't just leave you." Javif protested, again he tried to remove the debris, but he was still weakened from the recent mind meld.

"I am far beyond your help", Ma'Ning said, a deep sadness In his voice. "go ... help those who can still be helped."

"But?"

"Now!" Ma'Ning spat out, as his face contracted from a spasm. "you're ... Jedi ... taken oath ... serve others ... go .. go"

Javif swallowed "Yes master... I." He struggled to find the words, but there was nothing else to say.

"Goodbye Jedi Marr" Ma'Ning simply said, a ghostly smile touching his lips as his former padawan sensed his life force flicking out from the mortal realm. Javif recalled himself forcing to leave his friend where he laid and venture on towards his fateful encounter with Master C'baoth. Now, the young Jedi had returned to his masters side, dropping to his knees and closing Master Ma'Nings eyes with his hand.

"Goodbye Master Ma'Ning." Javif whispered out. After a moment of mourning, he noticed a familiar cylinder object by his side ... Master Ma'Nings own lightsaber. Javif picked it up and held his close to him, wondering how the force will help him now.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

Javif paused, that voiced ... could it be? He feverishly looked around to find the source of the voice, hoping that he'll here it again.

"Can anyone hear me out there? This is Lorana Jinzler of the Jedi Order, If any survivors on D3 can hear me please respond?"

Lorana? Thank the Force she's alive, Javif thought to himself. Her voice was coming from a console just outside in the nearby corridor, he hurried to reach it in time, hoping she's still on the other end.

"Please ... anyone? Respond!" Lorana pleaded. Javif had reached the console activated the comm link.

"Lorana!" Javif cried in relief, "Lorana, it's me Javif I can hear you."

"Is anyone out there, this is Jedi Knight Jinzler, someone ... anyone respond."

Javif examined the console more closely, it doesn't appear to be damaged but maybe the ships internal comms have been.

"Sith spit!" Javif spat out in frustration. "Lorana, I can hear you. Can you hear me?" He waited for a response, but it wasn't the one he was hoping for.

"If anyone is receiving this message, I'll be moving between dreadnaughts, searching for other survivors. Make your way to D5, I'm heading there now."

Javif abandoned the console and dashed back towards the main turbo lift. It didn't take too long for him to retrace his steps back to section that intersects with the rest of the Outbound Flight, but when he reached his destination, the young Jedi was frustrated to find that not only the turbo lift he arrived in was damaged beyond repair, but the remaining ones are out of power. This section of the ship must be running low on power, Javif thought to himself, cursing how he is suppose to proceed now.

"The Bridge!" Javif realised, if there was anywhere on D3 that could still contact Lorana it'll be there, it's a long shot but it's the best chance he has. He sped off toward the direction of the bridge, since D3 was the same as the other sections; a Rendili StarDrive heavy cruiser, the lay out is the same as the dreadnaught Javif mainly served on, so it was easy to navigate his way through the interior.

Suddenly, Javif stopped dead in his tracks. He felt something had changed, he sensed something ... someone new. The ship has been boarded. Acting quickly, the young Jedi continued to make his way throughout the section of the ship. Soon , Javif entered into a corridor that leads to the bridge, only to discover that someone had beaten him to it.

A squad of humanoid looking aliens in yellow trooper armour were positioned around the entrance of the bridge. Javif didn't recognise the armour, nor the insignia that they bore or even their species. Though most of the squad had their faces covered by helmets, one of them, likely an officer, was bare faced. Whoever these aliens were, they bore a strong resemblance to the Pandorian species, with their blue skin. However they lacked the yellow markings on their faces and had piercing red eyes.

"These must be with the ones who attacked the Outbound" Javif thought, "the ones who killed almost everyone on board with that chemical weapon."

For the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, a flash of anger occupied Javifs thoughts just as the officer noticed Javif come into view. He alerts his troops in his native tongue and the yellow troopers moved into position and began to open fire on the Jedi. In response, Javif activated his lightsaber and used its orange blade to deflect the incoming laser fire. The Milalukian Jedi let the force flow through him, trusting it to guide his every action and thanks to his training, was able to even redirect occasional blaster bolts back towards his enemies. After taking down a few troopers, Javif closed the distance between them. When he was close enough, he raised his hand and let out a force push, knocking back several troopers to the ground. As Javif approached the squad, some of the troopers pulled out vibroblades and lashed out. Unfortunately for them vibro weapons were no match for one skilled in lightsaber combat. Javif easily countered their attacks and used his lightsaber to pierce and dismembered the troopers. As those under his command fell to the ground dead, the Chiss officer drew his side blaster and aimed it at Javifs head. However the Jedi was quick to react by raising his blade up and deflecting the blaster bolt back, right through the officers forehead.

Looking down at his handiwork, at the corpses littering around him, Javif realised his mistake. He acted to aggressively towards them, he should have tried to take them alive, find out more about them and their mission. But instead he took them down hard. Realising he didn't have the luxury to reflect on his actions, Javif hurried inside the bridge and sat in its command chair.

"Come on ... come on ..." Javif muttered to himself as he activates the command console and attempts to create a communication link with Dreadnaught 5. It took a little time, but Javif managed to succeed and a few moments later ... his connection was answered.

"Can you hear me? Is anybody there?"

The image of a young human Jedi appeared in hologram form upon the console. The medium sized female was wearing her traditional Jedi robes, though it was torn and charred in several places. Her long dark hair that normally was neatly groomed at shoulder height was in a mess, strains of hair covering her face.

"Lorana!"

"Javif?"

Javif could here the tone of relief in her voice, forcing a smile across his face.

The young Jedi sighed in relief, "Thank the force your alive Lorana. Are you alone? Are there any other survivors?

"No, apart from myself there are some colonists trapped in the central core. But I haven't heard from anyone from the other dreadnaughts ... I think we all that's left."

Javifs heart fell upon hearing those words, but deep down he knew it was true.

"How many colonists?"

There was an uncomfortable pause before Lorana responded.

"Fifty Nine."

Its that all? Javif thought, out of fifty thousand crew and colonist on board the Outbound Flight, only fifty nine had survived the attack. Suddenly Lorana spoke again, breaking Javif away from this thoughts.

"What about Master C'baoth? Do you know if he...?"

Lorana was Jorus C'baoth's own Padawan before she was knighted alongside Javif himself. Of course she would be worried about him, but she must have sensed it, his fall to the dark side and his eventual death. "Master C'baoth ... he ... fell." Javif waited to hear how Loranas would respond, he could sense her troubled mind.

"I ..." her voice trembled slightly, normally Lorana was stale ward even in the most stressful of situation. Even though this would clearly be the exception, Javif thought, it was still disheartening to hear her like this. "I ... sensed it."

"I'm sorry Lorana" Javif said gently.

"We can't dwell on that now" Lorana interrupted, "we have to help the survivors."

"What's the situation on your end?" Javif said, "Is your section of the Outbound still functional?"

"Mostly." Replayed Lorana, "With the Outbounds main bridge destroyed, I can reroute the command systems to the bridge here on D5 and use it to pilot the ship."

"You can do that?" Javif said in surprise.

"Master C'baoth gave me the codes to do so, thankfully he also wanted a number of us to be capable to fly the Outbound if necessary." Informed Lorana. "There's a star cluster, two days away from our current location. Once we reach it, there should be at least 10 habitable planets within the vicinity that we can take refuge on. From there we can negotiate a way back to the Republic with the Chiss Ascendancy."

Javif was puzzled by this plan. Though a sensible one, it was very detailed and ... the Chiss? Are those the ones who attack the Outbound? "How did you come by this information?"

"That would from me."

A new, raspy voice responded from the intercom, a strangers voice that put Javif on the defensive. Suddenly the holographic image of Lorana stepped out of view and was soon replaced by a man in a plain black officers uniform. A man of the same blue skinned alien race as the troopers that he despatched recently.

"Who is this?" Javif demanded, "Identify yourself."

"I am Force Commander Mitth'ras'safis of the Chiss Expeditionary Defence Fleet. But you may address me as Thrass."

Javif was stunned by this; why would a commander of those whom attacked their ship want to help them now? What's going on? "Why should we trust you?" Javif accused, "your people attacked us and killed almost everyone on board. Even some of your men tried to kill me just now."

"That boarding party was one of several sent by the ruling families of the Ascendancy" Thrass explained, "They want to salvage your vessel for its technology. I am here on a different mission."

Suddenly Loranas voice interrupted. "Thrass and his brother agree that if their people retrieve the Outbound, it would upset the current balance of power between the ruling families."

"That cannot be allowed to happen." Thrass uttered in a serious tone. "And the loos of life on your vessel was ... regrettable."

"Regrettable?!" Javif spat out.

"My brother had no intention of using the weapons that killed your crew." Thrass explained, "but when he was attacked by your Jedi Master C'baoth, one of his lieutenants gave the order in retaliation, against my brothers instruction."

"Javif.." Lorana uttered, "we cant change what happened, but we can still help the remaining survivors buy getting them planet side."

The young Jedi sighed and re-examined the situation at hand. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right, Lorana always had a frustrating habit of being that. "Ok." Javif answered, "what do we need to do?"

"First of all we need to get your vessel off it's current fixed course." Thrass explained. "My brother will buy as much time as he can with the ruling families, while I will try to recall the remaining Ascendancy forces from your vessel."

"Understood." Responded Javif. "However..." the Chiss commander cut in, "they are not directly answer to me. Should you encounter more ... you must do what you need to do."

"I understand." Javif reassured, "I'll bunker myself down here for the time being."

"May warriors fortune, smile on our efforts." Thrass said. Javif could tell that this must have been a farewell blessing of sorts of his people, so he in turn could only respond with the traditional Jedi farewell. "And may the force be with us."

On that note, Thrass's image disappeared and Lorana reappeared.

"It'll take a little time to re-calculate the new coordinates." Lorana confirmed, "Perhaps you should do a diagnosis of the Outbound. Make sure that the ship can hold itself together for the journey."

"Agreed, I'll get started immediately." Javif said, "You just focus on getting the ship under your control."

"Javif...!" Lorana suddenly blurted out.

"Yes?"

"I'm really happy ... you managed to keep yourself alive." Lorana said bashfully. "I couldn't have wanted anyone else to survive through all this with."

Javif smiled softly before simply responding with. "nor could I." And with that, Loranas hologram disappeared, leaving Javif alone. Over the next several minutes, the young Jedi Knight performed a diagnostic on the ship. Luckily the hulls structural integrity is still intact, despite some minor damage. It seemed that most of the systems were still functional, apart from some minor ones. As he continued his checks, Javif thoughts drifted back to Lorana. He was surprised how quickly she took control of their current situation. Normally she was a little shy and unsure of herself, which was unsurprising considering who her master was. C'baoth had a reputation of being overly critical and incredibly harsh on his former Padawan, demanding absolute perfection In everything she did.

Javif always felt concerned for her well being even as far back as their early training, when they were first assigned to their masters. He originally thought that the force was with Lorana on the day Master C'baoth chose her as her Padawan. To be trained by such a prestigious Jedi Master, made him think that she was destined for greatness, but instead the pressure placed on her was immense. By comparison, Javifs own teacher, Master Ma'Ning, was a relatively obscure Jedi of little renown. He wasn't a legendary lightsaber duelist like Masters Windu or Dooku, before he left the order. Nor did he achieve some great feat in his life like Master Kenobi or possessed a powerful connection in the force as Master C'baoth or Grand Master Yoda. But he was patient, caring and a good listener. Master Ma'Ning wanted to bring out the best in Javif and reach his full potential, while Lorana had her abilities and achievements constantly scrutinised by her own master.

But that was no longer the case, C'baoth was gone and only he and Lorana remained. Maybe it was the will of the force, maybe not. But only time will tell what fate held before them and whatever it was, they would face it together.

"Javif!"

Javif was snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention towards Loranas hologram now reappeared, but something didn't feel right. "What's the matte?" Javif answered.

"We have a serious problem."

* * *

A/N: Comment and Review


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